


One of These Days, One of These Years

by vernonsgf



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Single Parents, Slow Burn, as in joshua's gonna fall for daddy cheol, telling u now that joshua and mingyu r gonna break up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2018-11-20 23:49:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11345679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vernonsgf/pseuds/vernonsgf
Summary: “What the hell does that mean, ’your relation to her?’” Seungcheol asks, in more of a whisper-yell than an actual yell this time.“I think that means you’re her father, Seungcheol.” Joshua replies.Friday Night Chill has been a tradition for as long as Seungcheol and his best friend, Joshua, have been living together. But Friday Night Chill turns into Friday Night Panic Attack when they find an unwarranted guest at their doorstep. Having a child in the house brings out the best and the worst of the two young adults, and the late night sessions of online shopping for baby clothes together brings them closer than they ever thought they'd be.





	1. Yoonah Choi, Real Life Angel

“Do you want pizza or something else?”

Seungcheol has his phone in his hand, already dealing the number for their local pizzeria.

“Seungcheol, please. Something else. We have pizza every week, I’m sick of it.” Joshua sighs. He slumps down onto the couch with an audible thump, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV.

Seungcheol’s cheeks turn red as he furiously presses delete. “Chicken it is.” He says.

“ _Full House_?” Seungcheol suggests, taking his rightful seat beside Joshua.

Delivery and Netflix is their Friday night tradition, one that has yet to be broken in the two years that they’ve been living together. Sometimes, Joshua’s boyfriend joins them, but tonight Mingyu is out of town and the two of them have been left to their own devices.

His suggestion is ignored. “We watched three episodes of _Full House_ yesterday. You don’t even understand half of the jokes, I have to explain them to you. We’re watching _Descendants of the Sun_.”

Joshua doesn’t even hesitate to listen to Seungcheol’s protesting before he’s selecting his own favourite show. Seungcheol lets it happen, though. He can’t remember the last time they’d watched anything that Joshua didn’t have to half-translate or explain for him, and he’d be an asshole if he didn’t give Joshua a break every once in a while.

They’re interrupted halfway through the opening scene by their buzzer going off, the high-pitched whine echoing through their apartment.

“That was fast,” Joshua says as he pauses the show. He surges forward to grab his wallet from the coffee table, but Seungcheol pushes him back down.

“No, I haven’t even ordered the food yet.” Seungcheol says.

Apparently, the fact that there is an unknown person buzzing their door isn’t concerning in the slightest. The presence of an unknown being doesn’t take Joshua’s mind off of what’s really important. “What the– Seungcheol, I’m hungry.” He whines.

“Yeah, calm down. Let me go see who it is.”

Seungcheol is so glad that technology has brought them this far when all he has to do to investigate this mystery is stare at a little screen beside their front door instead of walking all the way downstairs. And stare at that little screen he does, until he makes out a baby carrier and a duffle bag and he panics.

“Joshua, come here for a second.” He calls out, without once taking his eyes off of the screen.

“What? Why? Are you ordering food yet?” Joshua asks.

“Can you forget about food for, like, 30 seconds? There’s a baby outside.” Seungcheol says.

“What?”

“There’s a fucking baby on the front steps of our fucking building, Joshua! What do we do?” Seungcheol yells.

His heart is hammering in his chest, thoughts running through his head of how scared that poor baby must be. He’s always had a soft spot for kids, even if he’s never had kids of his own. It’s why he enjoys taking care of his baby cousins so much, even if he isn’t the most qualified for the job.

“I don’t know? Maybe it’s one of our neighbours’? Go check.” Joshua suggests.

“What do you mean ‘go check?’ It’s not a fucking dog, Joshua, it’s not gonna have a fucking collar with it’s owner’s number engraved into it.”

Joshua rolls his eyes. “Call the landlord and ask if anyone in the building has a kid. And bring the baby inside, it’s probably terrified.” He says, nudging Seungcheol towards the door.

“Who just forgets their baby outside?”

Joshua forgets how quick Seungcheol is to panic. He opens the door and shoves Seungcheol outside without a second thought.

“Just go get the damn baby, Cheol.”

He runs down the hallway, forgoing the elevator completely in favour of a quicker way to the bottom floor. And if he almost trips down an entire flight of stairs because he isn’t watching his footing, no one else has to know. When he gets to the front of their building and sees the carrier still there, he feels the heaviest weight being lifted off of his shoulders.

He hears it’s cries as soon as he opens the door. It’s the middle of the winter and the baby must be freezing, so he takes it inside before he does anything else.

“Okay, it’s okay, you’re okay.” He mumbles, crouching down and unstrapping the baby from it’s carrier.

He takes it into his arms, and it’s then that he catches a flash of white in the corner of his eye. Whatever it was, it fell off of the baby and into it’s—her (he assumes, because of the plethora of pink accessories and the way that she smells like literal flowers)—carrier.

“What,” He mumbles to himself, trailing off as curiosity takes over his mind. He reaches down to pick it up, but his stomach drops with guilt at the idea of seeing something that isn’t meant for him, and he grabs the handle of the carrier instead. The baby cries again when Seungcheol jostles her to allow himself to stand up.

“Alright, alright. Let’s get you upstairs.” He huffs, and he turns and presses the up button on the elevator.

\-----

“So,” Joshua starts as soon as he hears Seungcheol shucking off his shoes. “I called the landlord.”

Seungcheol sighs. He places the carrier and the duffle bag on their coffee table, but he holds on to the baby who had managed to fall asleep during their walk up three flights of stairs. “Yeah, and?”

“And, there is no one in this apartment who has a child under the age of four.” Joshua says.

Seungcheol almost drops the baby. “Then whose fucking kid did I just take?” He yells, but immediately regrets it when said kid wakes up and starts crying again. “No, no, please don’t cry.”

“I don’t—Oh, what’s that?”

Joshua is unashamed and unabashed; he’ll do the weirdest things without the slightest hint of regret or embarrassment. He plucks the white envelope from the carrier without a care in the world, not noticing the way that Seungcheol flinches.

“Huh,”

Seungcheol’s curiosity gets the better of him. “What? What does it say?” He asks.

“It’s addressed to you, Cheol.”

The room is filled with dense silence for a solid minute before Seungcheol speaks again. He shifts the baby to his hip and reaches for the envelope.

“You’re fucking with me.” Seungcheol states.

Joshua shakes his head at the same time that the baby coos and dribbles down the front of her own onesie.

“Shit,” Seungcheol says upon seeing the clearly written ‘Seungcheol Choi’ written on the front of the envelope. “Maybe it’s a different Seungcheol.”

Joshua stares at him with a completely blank face. “Seungcheol, we live in LA. How many Seungcheol Choi’s do you think there are in America, let alone in our building?” He says. Seungcheol winces.

“Okay, well, hold the baby or open the letter for me.” Seungcheol demands. Joshua chooses to open the letter.

“ _Dear Mr. Seungcheol Choi_ ,” Joshua starts, giving Seungcheol a pointed look.

_We are contacting you on the behalf of our daughter, Jiyeon Son. In the event of a tragic accident that took the life of our beloved Jiyeon, you have been given full custody of her daughter, Yoonah. In the few months that it took us to find you, we have fallen deeply in love with her and we want her to have the full experience of having parents that any other child would. Please take care of our angel granddaughter. In this envelope, you will find Yoonah’s birth certificate and any other records that may be necessary to prove your relation to her, as well as our contact information. Regards, Hyomin and Jinyoung Son._

Seungcheol’s heart stops half way through Joshua’s recitation of the letter, probably at the same time that Yoonah falls asleep and turns to deadweight in his arms.

“What the hell does that mean, ’your relation to her?’” Seungcheol asks, in more of a whisper-yell than an actual yell this time.

“I think that means you’re her father, Seungcheol.” Joshua replies. “You hooked up with Jiyeon, I remember you telling me about her.”

Seungcheol shakes his head. “No, that can’t be. Of all the drunken one night stands that I’ve had, I remember Jiyeon with one hundred percent clarity. I was safe with her.” He says.

“Seungcheol,” Joshua starts, but Seungcheol cuts him off.

“I was safe.” Seungcheol insists, tears starting to well in his eyes.

Joshua sighs. “I understand that, Cheol, but sometimes even being safe doesn’t stop these things. Condoms only have a 98 percent success rate.” He says.

Seungcheol starts crying at that. He’s a graduate student, he doesn’t have the time to be a father. Jiyeon was supposed to be a one time thing, a quick hookup after a night of getting drunk at a karaoke bar with friends. He was safe with her, he remembers being safe with her, it wasn’t supposed to turn out this way.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Joshua says, being quick to rush to Seungcheol’s side and wipe away his tears. “You can put her up for adoption or give her back to her grandparents.”

Seungcheol cries harder. “I can’t believe you’d say something like that. God, this isn’t happening right now, I think I’m having a panic attack. I’m gonna throw up. This isn’t real.” He says.

Joshua takes Yoonah from Seungcheol’s arms and places her back in her carrier.

“Cheol,” Joshua says, taking Seungcheol by the hands. “Calm down, okay? We’ll check her birth certificate and get a DNA test done. You don’t have to go through this alone. I’ll help. Mingyu will help. Your parents will probably take a plane to America just to spoil their granddaughter. Everything will be fine, okay?”

Seungcheol nods and Joshua guides him to the couch.

It takes a while for Seungcheol to calm down. Joshua sits beside him the whole time, rubbing his back and wiping away his tears. Yoonah stays asleep in her carrier. Seungcheol stares at her the whole time, tracing the face that looks so much like his. He lets the idea of her invade his mind, the idea of laughing with her when she’s happy and comforting her when she’s upset, and all of a sudden he understands that feeling of love at first sight that his father had once tried to explain to him in reference to his own birth. He understands the instant constricting feeling in his chest that makes him want to protect this baby from everything that’s wrong in the world.

He falls in love with his daughter in an instant, and he doesn’t even need to see her birth certificate to know that she’s his.

“Cheol,” Joshua starts once Seungcheol has regained a proper breathing pattern. “She has your sad cow eyes.”

“You’re an asshole.” Seungcheol scoffs, but he can’t stop himself from smiling because it’s true; she really does have his eyes.


	2. A Joshua A Day Doesn't Keep the Doctor Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoonah's first check up

“Seungcheol,”

“Seungcheol, wake up.”

“Come on, I did it last time. It’s your turn.” 

Upon the addition of Yoonah to their living space, Joshua had taken to sleeping in Seungcheol’s bed beside him. The idea behind this was that although parenting could be done successfully by one person, it was always better done by two. He curls up in Seungcheol’s bed every night in the ridiculous silk pyjamas that Mingyu had bought for him, and Yoonah curls up with them. That is, until they get her a suitable crib.

So, Joshua is currently prodding at Seungcheol’s back with the tips of his slender fingers as Yoonah wails from the spot between them.

“Five more minutes.” Seungcheol groans.

“I swear to god, Seungcheol Choi. If you don’t get your ass out of bed and deal with this crying baby, five minutes of sleeping will turn into a life time. Your bed is comfier than mine, I wouldn’t feel that guilty.” Joshua threatens.

Seungcheol has never considered Joshua to be a very intimidating person, and tonight is no different. Though, he supposes getting up to help Yoonah out wouldn’t be a bad idea.

“Okay, Yoonah, daddy’s here.” He mumbles sleepily, picking Yoonah up and depositing her on his own chest. “What’s wrong?”

Yoonah’s wails remain generally consistent, though they do waver in recognition of her father’s voice and the warmth of his chest under her tummy.

“It’s time for food, isn’t it?” Seungcheol coos. “You eat more than icky uncle Mingyu does, don’t you?”

“I heard that.” Joshua grumbles, his voice muffled by the way that his face is so carelessly smashed into his pillow.

Seungcheol chuckles. “I was talking about your boyfriend, not you.” He says.

“How do you think it feels to be dating ‘icky uncle Mingyu’?” Joshua scoffs.

Seungcheol laughs as he swings his legs over the side of the bed. He checks the clock before he does anything else. 4:32. As if the little devil hadn’t just inhaled an entire bottle of formula just a few hours ago.

“Maybe you’re growing. That’s why uncle Mingyu never stops eating.” Seungcheol says. At this point, he’s talking to himself, but neither Joshua or Yoonah seem to mind.

Yoonah’s wails have turned into more of a whimper than an actual cry. Seungcheol watches her for a minute, trying to decide whether or not she actually is hungry. She doesn’t smell, and they’ve been cuddling her all night, so it can’t be anything else. When he sees her try to pull her foot into her mouth and suck on her toes, he nods to himself and stands up.

Seungcheol bounces Yoonah on his hip as he waits for her bottle to warm up. Yoonah whimpers, a pout plastered onto her little face. She can hold her head up on her own, even tilt it up to look at Seungcheol when he’s holding her, and it’s a constant reminder that he’s missed out on so much of her life already.

“I know, I know. Just wait a little longer.” He mutters.

The microwave beeps and he tests the formula on the inside of his wrist, like how his cousin had told him to the very first time he babysat.

Yoonah takes her bottle instantly, her little eyes slipping shut and her little hands grabbing Seungcheol’s fingers. It warms Seungcheol’s heart more than he ever thought was possible. He watches Yoonah drink from her bottle with awe. His baby is so small and she’s so perfect. Her long eyelashes, that are almost an exact replica of his, brush against her cheeks with the fluttering of her eyelids. He smiles, soft and fondly, and kisses the little patch of hair on the top of her head.

Yoonah falls asleep like that, in Seungcheol’s arms with her lips still wrapped around the nipple of the bottle.

“I love you, Yoonah.”

“You’re so cute with her. My heart is actually crying.”

Seungcheol’s head snaps up, staring at Joshua in the doorway of his bedroom. His hair is a rat’s nest, freshly dyed brown and still a little damp from the shower he took before going to bed.

“I thought you went back to sleep.” Seungcheol says.

Joshua shrugs. “Couldn’t. I’ve always slept better with someone beside me.”

“Is that why you’re always so cranky when Mingyu decides that he wants to sleep in his own bed in his own apartment for like one night?” Seungcheol teases. Joshua just scoffs. “I still don’t understand why you won’t just ask him to move in with us.”

Joshua shrugs. “I’m still not sure about us.” He mumbles.

This comes as a shock to Seungcheol. He’s always seen Joshua and Mingyu as the one single stable relationship in his life. They’ve been together since Joshua and Seungcheol started living together, maybe even before that. Yoonah starts to snore in his arms, and he’s brought out of his own thoughts.

“Go back to sleep. We’ll talk about this in the morning.” Seungcheol says in the stern father voice that he picked up after a year of babysitting his nephew.

\-----

Seungcheol means to bring it up again in the morning, he really does, but being the father of a few months old baby that he is, he doesn’t really get to do the things that he wants, and Joshua leaves for his afternoon class before Seungcheol can stop him.

“What are we gonna do, Yoonah?” Seungcheol says as he sits down on the couch with Yoonah in his arms. He’s well aware that he could lay her in her carrier, but he loves holding her and feeling her little hands wrap around his fingers. He needs to lay her down for a nap soon, but he’s decided to relish in her post feeding quiet for a little bit longer.

He sits there for a while, admiring how similarly Yoonah looks to her mother. In Seungcheol’s opinion, there isn’t much of Yoonah that resembles him other than her eyes, everything else she got from Jiyeon. Even if Seungcheol had mostly forgotten about Jiyeon and then night they spent together, having Yoonah in front of him brings everything back to the front of his mind like it had just happened last night.

Yoonah yawns, and it’s one of the, if not _the_ , cutest thing he’s ever seen. Yoonah is pretty cute when she isn’t crying.

“Is it nap time?” He coos, running a hand over her little baby head, covered in the thinnest layer of hair. He’s kind of glad that Yoonah wasn’t born with a full head of hair like he’d been. He’s heard enough from his mother about her struggles with trying to brush his hair when he couldn’t even speak.

Yoonah rubs a little fist over her eyes and Seungcheol takes that as his cue to put her down for her nap. He lays her in the middle of the bed, pushing the covers down to the end of the bed and placing a thinner, baby sized blanket over her body. He makes sure to cushion both all four surrounding sides of the bed with at least three layers of pillows so that there’s no way she’ll fall off while he’s in the living room working on his essay, and he double checks that the baby monitor is on before he actually grabs his laptop from his desk and walks back to the couch.

He promised himself that he’d get something done, anything to save his rapidly falling grades, but instead he dozes off on the couch, laptop on the coffee table and required reading laying open on his stomach. He doesn’t wake up until Joshua comes home from his class, and even then he barely rouses at the sound and feeling of Joshua taking is book and placing it on the coffee table beside his laptop. Joshua coaxes him awake gently, sitting down on the couch beside him and petting his head until he pops an eye open.

“What time is it?” Seungcheol asks, voice deep and scratchy. “Where’s Yoonah?”

Joshua giggles. “She’s fine. I checked on her as soon as I came home, before I even came to wake you up. She’s still sleeping.” He says.

Seungcheol pouts and closes his eyes again, letting his head droop down onto Joshua’s shoulder. “Why’d you wake me up then?” He whines. Joshua giggles again.

“We have to leave soon. Yoonah’s got a doctor’s appointment in half an hour, remember?” Joshua says.

Seungcheol shakes his head, but he sits up straight anyways. He honestly hadn’t remembered, and he’s suddenly grateful that he has Joshua to help him with this whole parenting thing. He wouldn’t be able to do this on his own.

“I guess that’s pretty important.” Seungcheol says, basking in the sound of Joshua giggling at his half asleep silliness. He grumbles and runs a hand over his face. “We should probably wake her up.”

Joshua opens his mouth to agree, but he’s cut off by the sound of Yoonah crying over the baby monitor. Seungcheol shrugs as Joshua starts to laugh.

“What did I say?” Seungcheol says.

\-----

The appointment is hell. If not for the fact that Seungcheol can feel so many judging eyes on him for showing up to the paediatrician with Joshua in tow, then for the fact that checkups can sometimes entail vaccinations. Seungcheol is shocked to find out, but then again he’s never had to be a parent before.

Seungcheol is glad that along with Yoonah’s birth certificate, Jiyeon’s parents included her existing medical records. He doesn’t even want to think about the judging glares he would’ve received from the nurses if they hadn’t.

The doctor is a friendly looking, young female, whom Seungcheol is sure he might’ve been attracted to pre-Yoonah. Now, all he thinks about is his baby and his ever-growing list of responsibilities. And Joshua, sometimes. Dr. Lee, Seungcheol learns, is very good at reading people.

“Is she your first?” She asks, with a knowing smile on her face. Seungcheol nods. “I can tell. You have that first time parent anxiety look on your face.”

Seungcheol smiles sheepishly. He’s sitting in an uncomfortable black chair, and Yoonah is standing on his lap bouncing up and down on her little baby legs.

“You’re doing great so far. She’s had her first couple of doses of vaccinations, and you’re right on time for the last one.” Dr. Lee says.

Seungcheol doesn’t know why, but he feels the need to explain everything. “I’ve, uh, only had her for about a month. Her mom passed away and she was living with her grandparents until a month ago.”

“Oh. Well, from what I can see, nothing’s gone wrong that could’ve gone wrong in the past month or so, so,” She trails off, and Seungcheol can tell that he’d unknowingly blindsided her.

“Yeah, thanks.” He says, focusing his eyes on his daughter.

The appointment goes over as fast as it could, with Dr. Lee assuring Seungcheol that Yoonah’s weight, height, and ability to sit on her own are all where they should be at her mere age of six months. Dr. Lee tells him that he should probably start introducing solid foods into her diet within the next few weeks, and all Seungcheol can do is nod and take a mental note. He really hadn’t thought that solid foods could be introduced so early. His entire baby timeline is probably out of whack.

“I’ll have the nurse come in and catch her up on her vaccinations and then you’ll be free to go.” She says, standing up and shaking Seungcheol’s hand.

And then it all goes to shit. If Seungcheol knew the kind of torture he’d be subjected to in those last five minutes, he wouldn’t have left Joshua sitting in the waiting room. The nurse comes in with a little mobile tray all set up with bottles and needles, and even Seungcheol can’t look without feeling shivers run down his spine.

“It’s only going to be one needle—just a quick in and out—but I’m going to need you to hold her still, okay?” The nurse says, as if she can sense Seungcheol’s discomfort.

Seungcheol nods and turns Yoonah so that she’s facing him. She smiles as soon as she sees his face, completely naive to what’s going on behind her. Seungcheol grins in return, cooing at her and returning her babbles, even though there’s an overwhelming sense of guilt building in his stomach as the nurse swipes Yoonah’s arm with an alcohol wipe.

The needle goes in as quick as the nurse said it would, but it doesn’t stop Yoonah’s eyes from going wide in absolute shock and betrayal. She starts wailing, and Seungcheol can’t remember his shots ever taking this long.

“You’re doing so well, Yoonah. My sweet baby girl, you’re doing so well.” He coos, as if he isn’t on the verge of tears himself.

By the time the nurse has placed a bandaid on Yoonah’s arm and let them out of the room, Yoonah’s wails have dulled to a tired whimper and Seungcheol feels exhausted. He places Yoonah on his hip, her lips still trembling with shocked cries, and thanks the nurse before bolting into the waiting room and dragging Joshua out of the clinic.

“How was it?” Joshua asks as he watches Seungcheol buckle a, now sleeping, Yoonah in her carseat.

“Awful. They had to give her a shot and I had to hold her down while they stabbed her with the needle, Joshua, it was torture. What if she hates me? She must feel so betrayed.” Seungcheol cries out, pulling himself out of the car and shutting the door.

Joshua snorts, but he gathers Seungcheol into his arms anyways. “You’re being ridiculous. We’ll get home and she’ll be back to her giggly, loving self.” He says.

Seungcheol pulls back with a sort of urgency, as if Joshua had just reminded him of something. “No, when we get back we’re putting her down for a nap and then you’re going to explain what’s going on with Mingyu. You can’t get away from this.” Seungcheol says, opening the passenger door of his car and gesturing for Joshua to get in.

Joshua rolls his eyes as he gets into the car. “Yes, dad.” He says. Seungcheol just shuts the door and scoffs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let’s all assume that Seungcheol was smart enough to have Yoonah covered under his own medical insurance as soon as she showed up on his doorstep. Or that Joshua was smart enough to remind him at the very least.


	3. Yoonah Choi, Problem Solver

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joshua finally talks about Mingyu and Seungcheol finally goes back to school

Joshua wakes up to Mingyu’s arms around his waist. It’s an unsettling feeling to wake up to after sleeping in Seungcheol’s bed for a few weeks and only waking up to Yoonah’s babbling or Seungcheol’s twisting and turning. Mingyu’s arms are tight around his waist like a vice and it sends Joshua into a panic.

“Mingyu,” He mumbles, trying to move the dead weight arm, to no avail. Mingyu groans and grips tighter.

“Mingyu, get off.” He says, louder and more demanding. Mingyu huffs and turns over, pulling the blankets into a bunch in between his arms, and Joshua can practically hear the pout forming on Mingyu’s face. “I’m just gonna check on Yoonah. I’ll be right back.”

Mingyu sighs, and Joshua can just barely make out the nod of his head in the darkness of the room. He rushes over to Seungcheol’s room without a second thought. Yoonah is sleeping soundly when he gets there, only slightly too close to the edge of the bed for Joshua’s liking. He wants to crawl into the bed beside her to guard her from everything, but he chooses instead to grab a few of the decorative throw pillows from the foot of Seungcheol’s bed and place them beside her.

He tries to leave the room as quietly as possible, but he knocks over one of Yoonah’s toys as he’s backing away from the bed.

“Shit,” He lets out as he picks up the toy and places it back onto the bedside table.

Seungcheol groans, turning over in his sleep. “Josh?” He mumbles.

“Yeah, it’s me. Sorry.” Joshua says.

“What are you doing awake?” Seungcheol asks, sitting up a little. “Come back to bed.”

Joshua pulls his lip into his mouth. “Mingyu’s in my room; I was just checking on Yoonah. Go back to sleep.” He says.

Seungcheol whines, turning to face Yoonah and placing a hand on her head. He pets the hair on her head while he pouts, staring right at Joshua. Joshua’s heart skips a beat at how warm Seungcheol’s bed looks, at how Seungcheol looks so naturally attractive with his messy hair and his collarbones peaking out of his plain white t-shirt, the way he always does.

“Go back to sleep, Cheol.” Joshua says, running back into Mingyu’s awaiting arms before his sleep deprived brain can convince him to stay.

\-----

Seungcheol wakes up at seven in the morning to Yoonah’s crying.

“Yoonah,” He whines, kind of wanting to cry himself.

She’s never awake this early, much less crying in addition. Seungcheol sees the space on the bed beside her and finds it absent of anything but pillows and figures that it must be that. He sighs.

He picks her up, placing her on his chest. “Am I not enough for you?” He pouts teasingly, even though she probably can’t understand him. The warmth of his chest seems to calm her down enough that she doesn’t do much more than sniffle and drool onto his shirt.

“Just give me a few more minutes.” Seungcheol says, his eyes already starting to slip closed.

The second thing that wakes him up that morning is the quiet click of a camera shutter. The weight on his chest is still there, and the first thing he does when he opens his eyes is train them on his daughter, making sure that she’s sleeping soundly. He looks up to see Joshua, giggling and pointing his phone in their direction.

“What?” Seungcheol deadpans.

Joshua keeps giggling. “Nothing. You’re just cute.” He says. Seungcheol is sure that his cheeks turn bright red.

Seungcheol peaks over at his alarm clock. 12:52. “Don’t you have a boyfriend to attend to?” He says, placing Yoonah on the bed so that he can sit up. She farts and rolls over onto her stomach. Seungcheol wrinkles his nose.

Joshua shrugs. “He made breakfast and then left for work half an hour ago.”

“Okay. Come here.” Seungcheol says, tucking his legs under himself and patting the space that he cleared for Joshua to sit.

Joshua groans, knowing what’s coming, but sits down anyway. “Cheol, I’ve got work to do,” He starts to say, but Seungcheol doesn’t let him finish.

“You need to tell me what’s going on between you two.” Seungcheol says. “You’ve been avoiding this for weeks, Josh. Even Yoonah is upset.”

Joshua rolls his eyes. “Yoonah can’t be upset, she doesn’t even know who Mingyu is. She cries whenever she hears his voice.” He says.

“That’s the point,” Seungcheol says. “Mingyu’s such a big part of your life, bigger than Yoonah and I combined. She should know who he is as much as she knows you. What’s going on?”

“I can’t tell you.” Joshua says. He lies down on Seungcheol’s bed then, curling onto his side and grabbing one of Yoonah’s plushies to cuddle. Seungcheol pats his lap and Joshua maneuvers himself so that his head is resting on Seungcheol’s blanket-covered thigh.

Seungcheol runs a hand through his hair, massaging his scalp. “Yes, you can. You tell me everything.” He says.

Joshua sighs, his cheeks flushing and his heart racing. “Mingyu- He-“ He sighs. “I had a crush– _have_ a crush on someone, but I know they’ll never like me back. Mingyu’s just a convenient distraction. He always has been, and he knows. I don’t love him, Cheol. I don’t think I can. I’m just using him ‘cause I’m a shitty excuse for a human being.”

Seungcheol’s heart is racing, but it stops completely when he hears the soft “please don’t hate me,” come out of Joshua’s mouth.

“You’re not shitty and I could never hate you.” Seungcheol says. “We’re coparenting my child. She cries when you’re not here.”

Joshua snorts. “You’re talking about yourself, Cheol.” He says.

“That was one time!”

\-----

Joshua feels guilty. He always feels guilty, but today he feels worse. Yoonah is clinging to his arm, crying while Mingyu tries to shush her. They’re sitting on the couch with one of Yoonah’s favourite cartoons playing on the TV, but she won’t stop crying.

“Yoonah,” Joshua scolds, pulling her tighter into his embrace. “You promised daddy that you’d be good while he was gone.”

Yoonah cries harder, grabbing at Joshua’s shirt in an attempt to crawl vertically up his body.

“Maybe we should call Seungcheol.” Mingyu suggests. Joshua glares.

“We’re not calling him. He’s in the middle of a class that he hasn’t gone to in weeks because he’s been so busy taking care of a baby. It’s not his fault that she’s scared of you.” Joshua says, pulling Yoonah up so that her head is on his shoulder. This seems to calm her down a bit.

They fed and burped her a few minutes ago, changed her diaper right before that, and the only thing that Joshua can think of doing to stop her crying is to separate her from Mingyu and put her down for a nap.

“I’ll be back,” Joshua says, standing from the couch with Yoonah still in his arms. “Stay here.”

It takes Yoonah longer than usual to fall asleep, probably due to the major freak out that she’s still coming down from. Joshua is kind of grateful, though. It spares him from having to talk to Mingyu for a few minutes. He doesn’t know what’s gotten into him lately, he’s always enjoyed Mingyu’s company but now he can barely stand it.

Joshua takes a picture of the small baby taking up the entire queen sized bed and sends it to Seungcheol before pocketing his phone and walking back out into the living room.

“Joshua, talk to me. What’s going on with you?” Mingyu asks.

Joshua throws himself down onto the couch, placing his legs in Mingyu’s lap and his head on Mingyu’s shoulder.

“I’m just tired, I guess. Mostly worried and kind of stressed out.” Joshua admits.

Mingyu nods, squeezing Joshua’s calf. “Seungcheol was born to be a father, you have nothing to worry about.” He says.

“That’s the problem, though.” Joshua says. “He’s spreading himself too thin. And I can tell that he’s beating himself up about not being able to work and having to rely on his parents and me.”

“Isn’t that what you wanted? For Seungcheol to rely on you?” Mingyu says, and Joshua freezes. “Come on, Josh. Did you really think I didn’t know? You hate being alone just as much as I do.”

Joshua shifts, leaning his entire body against Mingyu’s. “I didn’t think you knew it was him.” He says. Mingyu scoffs.

“You’re so obvious, Shua. You’ve always hated it when I spend the night, especially now that you’ve gotten a taste of what it’s like to have Seungcheol depend on you.” Mingyu says.

“He’s always depended on me.” Joshua grumbles, and Mingyu just laughs.

“Yeah, but now you sleep in his bed and take care of his daughter. You act like you’re married.” Mingyu says, and then sighs. “Ah, but who am I kidding? It’s not like I’m any better.”

As if on cute, Mingyu’s phone buzzes on the coffee table. Joshua picks it up, smiling at the notification. “You definitely aren’t.” He says, handing the phone over.

Mingyu’s cheeks go pink, and it reminds Joshua of how much younger than him Mingyu actually is. Two years is a lot, especially now that Joshua feels like he’s 35, taking care of a husband and kids, and Mingyu acts like he’s still 20.

“It’s fine, Gyu. If you make Minghao wait any longer he’ll never fall in love with you.” Joshua says. The colour on Mingyu’s cheeks deepens.

“I can stay, Josh. Really, I can.” Mingyu says, but Joshua can tell that he really doesn’t want to.

“Go get your man. Tell him we broke up and you need comforting. But don’t make him think that he’s just a rebound; you’ve been leading him on long enough.” Joshua says.

“Josh–“ Mingyu starts, but Joshua shakes his head. Mingyu leans down and captures Joshua’s lips between his own one last time. “You’re still my favourite, you know? Seungcheol has nothing on you.”

Joshua laughs, pushing Mingyu towards the door. He watches as Mingyu runs down the hallway towards the elevators, and then he turns back to the couch. The TV is still playing Yoonah’s favourite cartoon, and it finally hits him that he is completely alone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UMMMM I didn't mean for the breakup to happen so soon but I couldn't stop my fingers from typing  
> This chapter was mostly abt joshua cuz I actually need character development I can't keep writing abt papa cheol and his baby girl forever  
> Also I can't stop thinking about cheol being cute and dressing his daughter in pink dresses and lace bows and treating her like a princess and I'M SOF


	4. Maybe We Should Get A Babysitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's soft and fluffy and they go grocery shopping. What more could you want?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm reuploading this cuz I fucked up kinda majorly lolololol  
> EDIT: Hi kids I'm deleting any commments abt Yoonah having the wrong name cuz I'm tired of seeing them lol I know I fucked up apparently editing and reuploading still didn't fix all of my mistakes so I'm checking and editing again for the 5000th time thank u goodnight

“Mingyu broke up with you or you broke up with him?”

Johsua sighs. “How many times do I have to tell you, Cheol? It was mutual.” He says.

Seungcheol shakes his head. “I don’t get it. You’ve been together for years that kind of thing doesn’t just end mutually.”

“The whole basis of our relationship was guaranteed failure. We were both a stand in for someone else.”

“I just don’t understand.” Seungcheol says.

“Can we please stop talking about it? I may have known this was going to happen from the start but that doesn’t make it any less upsetting.” Joshua says, slamming his door shut behind him. He instantly regrets it the minute that he hears Yoonah let out a startled cry and Seungcheol’s following sigh of distress. He’d just put her down for her nap.

It’s juvenile for Joshua to react like this, locking himself in his room and sulking like a child while Seungcheol assumes every responsibility in the house. Everything in his body is begging him to open the door, take responsibility of the mess that he’s created and let Seungcheol get some sleep for once. But he’s stubborn, and time goes on.

He doesn’t know how long he waits, lying facedown on his bed waiting for Seungcheol to come find him. He knows that Seungcheol is aware of exactly how unlocked the door is, having not bothered to click the loud lock into place before he launched himself onto his bed to mope like a teenager. His phone buzzes in his pocket with unread texts, but they don’t tempt him in the slightest. The only thing on his mind is Seungcheol and the pseudo-family that they’ve created together.

Joshua cries, alone on his bed on a Sunday night. He’s never felt more alone than this: no best friend to lean on, no parents to talk to, no kind-of-fake-boyfriend to make him forget that this was his fault in the first place.

He pushes himself to his feet after another minute of just lying there. It takes a lot to fight the stubborn voice in his head telling him to wait for Seungcheol to come to him, but he fights it. He finds Seungcheol asleep on the couch wrapped protectively around Yoonah’s small body. It’s then that the weight of his guilt truly sets in, realizing how late it is and how long of a day Seungcheol must have had.

Joshua pries Yoonah from Seungcheol’s grasp as gently as he can, doing his best not to wake her. He rests her against his chest as he wakes Seungcheol.

“Come on,” He says as he takes Seungcheol’s hand. “Let’s get you to bed.”

Seungcheol follows with a sleepy nod of his head. Yoonah’s little snores purr into Joshua’s ear as he leads Seungcheol to his bedroom. He helps Seungcheol into his bed and then places Yoonah down beside him, the baby letting out a small whimper at the momentary loss of warmth.

“Shua,” Seungcheol starts, not letting Joshua’s hand go when he tries to walk away. “Are you still mad at me?”

Joshua sighs and sits on the edge of the bed, rearranging the blankets around Yoonah’s sleeping body before he puts his full weight down on the mattress. “I was never mad at you. I’m just feeling sad and a little lonely.” He says.

“Stay. We’ll keep you company.” Seungcheol says, patting the empty space on the bed beside Yoonah.

Joshua takes one look at the sleeping angel on the bed and instantly he’s convinced.

\-----

Seungcheol wakes up alone and in a panic. Yoonah and Joshua are nowhere to be found. The logical part of his brain tells him that Joshua is probably changing Yoonah’s diaper or warming up a bottle, but the irrational, still half asleep part of him is insisting that they’ve both been kidnapped. He throws the blankets off of his body, narrowly avoiding getting tangled in the sheet of fabric, and drags himself out of the room.

What he walks into isn’t really a surprise in terms of shocking him, but he doesn’t expect it either. Joshua is standing in the kitchen with Yoonah in his arms, feeding her from a bottle. Her little hand clasps around his forefinger, the other grasping as much of the bottle as it can. He rocks her back and forth, smiling at her like she’s his own daughter, and Seungcheol supposes that she kind of is. The sight brings a new kind of warmth to his heart that he’s never felt before.

“Morning,” He says, voice soft enough to not startle either of the two.

Joshua turns to face him with a grin on his face. “Morning.” He replies.

“You’re up early.” Seungcheol says, putting a hand on Joshua’s waist to stabilize himself as he navigates around Joshua’s body in their small kitchen. He doesn’t notice the way that Joshua’s smile falters, or the way that his heart skips a beat.

“She was hungry.” Joshua mutters. “I didn’t want her to wake you up with her crying.”

Seungcheol turns to the baby in Joshua’s arms, temporarily forgetting his task to fill his own body with caffeine. “You didn’t cry, did you? Did you wake Shua up, you little devil?” He coos. She ignores him, continuing her task of draining the life force out of her bottle.

Joshua giggles. “Here,” He starts. “You take her. I’ll make your coffee.”

Seungcheol salutes before he takes Yoonah from Joshua’s arms. “You got it, boss.”

He leans up against the counter, watching as Joshua makes quick work of their coffee machine. The year that he spent working at a coffee shop left him with valuable skills, even if management had treated him poorly. They’d spent half of Joshua’s last paycheque from that job on a fancy espresso machine for their apartment that, thankfully, still works to this day.

Yoonah falls asleep to the sound of the bean grinder, with the nipple of the empty bottle still in her mouth.

“What’s on the agenda today?” Joshua asks as Seungcheol reaches over to place the empty bottle in the sink. One of them will clean it later, but it isn’t a task for right now.

Seungcheol shrugs and Joshua places a mug on the counter beside him, sloppy latte art and all. “We’re running low on groceries, and my mom said we should start Yoonah on some purees soon so we should probably get some of those.”

Joshua nods, purposely ignoring the way that Seungcheol’s voice strains when he speaks about his mother. She’d insisted that Seungcheol give Yoonah up for adoption, and when Seungcheol refused she reluctantly offered up some advice. There’s been tension between them ever since, and Joshua has enough sense to not push the subject too early.

“That can wait until later. It’s still early, we can watch _Full House_ and eat leftover fried rice.” Joshua suggests.

Seungcheol groans. “Fuck, it’s been so long since we’ve done that.” He says. Joshua giggles and takes Yoonah so that Seungcheol can start nursing his coffee on their way to the living room couch.

“We’ve been busy with this little devil and you’ve been busy with trying to get your grades back up. And I feel bad about being mean to you yesterday.” The last phrase is a quiet addition that Joshua is almost embarrassed to let out.

Seungcheol stops, “Hey, no. Don’t apologize. You’re going through a lot, I get it. And I’ve kinda forced this parenting thing on you.” He says.

Joshua still shrugs. “Still feel bad. Go sit, I’ll put Yoonah back in bed and bring out the rice.”

Seungcheol nods and abandons his coffee on the coffee table in favour of picking up their TV remote. He loads up the next episode in mindless silence, almost tempted to fall back asleep to the sound of Joshua shuffling around in his room. And he almost does, before Joshua wakes him up with the sound of the baby monitor being placed by his mug. He realizes that moving himself to the couch before Joshua could reheat their rice was a bad idea, even if he’d been instructed to do so. He knows that Joshua hates the microwave and is currently heating up some oil in a pan on their stove, and it’s going to be a while before he’s joined on the couch.

Instead of dwelling on it, he heaves himself up and trudges into the kitchen, mug in one hand and baby monitor in the other.

“I thought I told you to sit.” Joshua teases. He knows how clingy Seungcheol can get when he’s tired, especially first thing in the morning. They’ve lived together long enough.

“Got lonely.” Seungcheol says, placing his things on the countertop and slotting his head into the space between Joshua’s jaw and broad shoulders.

Joshua snorts, tipping the container of cold fried rice into the pan. “It’ll only be a minute.” He says.

Seungcheol doesn’t reply, only hums and wraps his arms around Joshua’s waist.

\-----

“Does strawberry banana puree sound good? You think she’d like that?” Seungcheol says, staring down at the can of baby food in his hand.

Yoonah is fast asleep in her carrier, the gentle swinging with Joshua’s walking momentum knocking her out as soon as they step into the grocery store. They already have Joshua’s favourite cereal in the cart and the biggest tub of baby formula that they could find because Yoonah is a growing baby, she goes through it fast.

“Just-“ Joshua hesitates, because he hasn’t done this before either. “Just get her stuff that doesn’t sound disgusting. None of that blended chicken and rice shit.”

Seungcheol hears a mother down the isle giggle. “Okay, good plan.” He says, chucking the strawberry banana puree into the cart. It rattles against the metal of the cart and he winces.

“Cheol,” Joshua starts, wrapping a hand around Seungcheol’s wrist. “It’ll be fine.”

Seungcheol nods and slumps forward until his head is resting on Joshua’s shoulder. He lets out a sigh of relief, one that he hadn’t realized he was holding in. Joshua’s grip on his wrist tightens and it keeps him grounded to a reality where his burden is being shared, even though he’s never asked Joshua to do that for him.

“Thank you.” Seungcheol says. Yoonah’s carrier taps against his knee and it brings a smile to his face.

“How about we go get you some of that nasty chocolate cereal that I know you’re gonna finish in two days?” Joshua says. 

_”Cheol, stop eating that cereal. It’s full of chemicals and sugar and bad stuff. How are you supposed to be my best friend forever if you only live for another year ‘cause you have bad stuff in your body?”_

Seungcheol shakes his head. “Bad stuff.” He says.

Joshua snorts. “Okay, fine. We’ll get you some fancy, sweet protein stuff instead, you muscle head.”

The smile on Seungcheol’s face widens and he nods. Yoonah whimpers then, probably feeling left out and abandoned, and Seungcheol absolutely can’t allow that.

“Oh, is it wakey time already?” Seungcheol says, lifting Yoonah out of her carrier and almost dropping her blanket onto the floor in the process. He places her on his shoulder and she relaxes almost instantly. “You just wanted some attention, huh?”

Joshua pushes the cart further into the aisle, but they’re stopped by an elderly woman holding a box of crackers.

“I’m sorry for intruding, but your daughter is gorgeous.” She says. Seungcheol smiles, placing a hand on Yoonah’s head and petting her hair.

“Thank you,” He says. His accent is still heavy, despite the fact that he’s been living in America with Joshua going on 5 years now, and his cheeks go pink. Joshua’s arm wraps around his waist.

“Don’t let her ruin your fun too much, though. You two are still young, I remember what my son was like at your age.” She says with a wink, and then walks away.

Seungcheol’s face turns a shade deeper, Joshua giggles at his side, and Yoonah snores into his ear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy friday the 13th kids

**Author's Note:**

> so like that happened  
> and it will continue to happen because the idea of seungcheol taking care of a baby girl makes me weak at the knees  
> also I was so aiming for ≥2k but like I just barely reached 1.8 so lmao maybe next chapter
> 
> hit up my [twitter](http://twitter.com/memeyoozi) to leave feedback  
> also I usually leave extra notes and sometimes spoilers on there


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